Artificial bait



Jan. 10, 1950 R. o. RHODES 2,494,407

ARTIFICIAL BAIT Filed Nov. 12, 1948 INVENTOR. gk] G7 Kia-LUV Patented Jan. 10, `1950 UNITED STATES OFFICE l {5,494,407- `An'rlrlcIALBAil'r Roy 0. Rhodes, Martinsburg, Pa; Application November 12, 19448, Serial No. 594597 This invention relates to. .fishing tackle and.

more particularly to artificial bait. or minnows of theA under-Water type particularly ,adaptable for game fishing.

One objectl of the presenty invention is to. providev an artiiicial bait Which, in action, simulates the.'-

lifelike movements. and appearance of livebait to a maximum degree. l

Another objectkof the invention is to provide a:

sectional articial bait. of such construction thatl when a sh strikes the front. section of the body fish in shaking. itself free from the hook..v

A further object 1ste provide amari-,moral .bait fi the parts of which can be economically con structed and easily assembled.y

Other objects and advantages of my. inventionv will be apparent as the specification. is considered in connection with the accompanying drawingr,l.;

in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of the articial bait with the parts inthe approximate positions they occupy while the articial bait is being drawn through the water;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional 'view through Figure 1; y.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the vartificialfbait showing the frontv body sectionv advanced .forwardly along the shing line after the bait has been struck by a sh;

Figure 5 is a section tal'zenalongV the line 5-5 of Figure 1; and

Figure 6 is a section taken along the line 6 6 oi Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, I denotes an artificial bait comprising a front section or body member 2 and a rear section or body member 3 of suitable material such as turned brass rod or tubing. The front and rear sections, after being turned to the desired substantially cylindrical shape, are drilled longitudinally to provide aligned bores 4 and 5, respectively. These bores, which extend throughout the entire length of the body members or sections are adapted to accommodate an internal rigging 6, which connects the sections 2 and 3 for independent rotation.

The front section 2 carries two oppositely disposed propellers l set at an angle, which cause the front section to revolve in a life-'like manner, when the bait is trolled through the',A water. A transverse passage or bore 8 through the nose of of. the propellers.

' 1 claim. (c1. isf-42.445)

' theiront section and intersecting the longitudinalV bore. 4, snugly receives, at` its` opposite open ends@ reduced extensions or portions 9 of the propellers, anyv suitable means such. as brazing, not showm.y v beingemployed. to iiX the. propellers against displacement.

Apair of, stabilizers. or fins I. are fixed to, the rear section. 3 of thearticial bait by means ofk reduced extensions or portions il adaptedv Ato., lsnugly seat. Within the outer ends. of a transverseA bore I2,` formed through the rear end of section. 3.,

thelreduced extensions .II being nally andper n manently secured in place vin a manner similar to that. followed in connection With the assembly While the function of the stabilizers are believed to be obvious from the foregoing it might be stated here. that, their' function isV to tend to prevent rotation oi the rear section 3 so that rotation of section 3: will not correspond to that of section 2..v

j Referring, to the rigging (i, the latter comprises a'front'or rst wire 'I3' and a second or rear wire I4positioned' within the respective longitudinal aligned boresitandV 5 of the sections 2 and. 3. The forward end 'of the front wire I3 is connected to an eye I5 of'a front swivel member I6 by passing that end `ofthe wire through the eye I5 andv then winding the returned end around the body oi the wire as` at' I'I".l vThe opposite or rear end of the wire i3, is'conne'cted in a manner similar to that just' described to an eye I3 of a middle swivel member I8, the latter including a spacer barrel 2D, seated against and within the spaced opposing" ends of the bores 4 and 5 for maintaining the sections 2 and 3 out of contact with eachA other. Thus the rear end of wire I3 is doubled back and wound around the body of the Wire I3, as at 2 I.

The front end of the second or rear Wire I4, is connected to an eye 22 by passing that end of the wire through the eye 22 and then Winding the returned end around the body of wire I4, as at 23, the opposite or rear end of the wire I4 being similarly passed through and wound upon a split ring 24, as at 25, the length of the wire I4 and its connections at opposite ends to the barrel 20 and split ring 24 being such that the wire I4 will be maintained taut and longitudinal movement of the wire I4 through the bore 5 will be prevented. An eye portion 26 of a treble hook 27, is somewhat loosely attached to split ringr 24, for freedom of pivotal movement with respect to the latter by spreading the rin-g and winding thereon the eye 25 [of the hook, as on a key ring, enabling a .change of hooks to be made Both the fins, or stabilizers and f the'propellers are preferably made of sheet brass.

member or barrel 28, to the opposite sides of,

which the eye I5, previously mentioned, and a second eye 29, of front swivel member I6, are attached, the eye 29 providing means for attaching a `conventional fishing line 30. The barrel 28 is adapted to seat snugly but for relative longitu.

dinal movement through the bore 4 to frictionally guide the front section 2 over the wire I3, swivel member I and fishing line 30 during the movement of the front sectionunder the impact of a strike. It will be understood that the barrel 2B is considerably larger than eyes I5 and 29, but much smaller than barrel 2U, whereby the barrel 28 will frictionally engage in the bore 4,`and slow down and guide the longitudinal movement of the front section 2, over or relatively to the front wire i3 and the fishing line 30.

Normally the two sections 2 and 3 of the lure are maintained in close frictional contact with opposite sides of the barrel 28, by the weight or pull of the hook, but when the iish strikes the front section 2 will be propelled forwardly up the fishing line a substantial distance from Figure 3 to Figure 4 position, thus reducing the weight of the lure at the shs mouth and increasing the diiiiculties encountered by the fish in pulling or shaking itself free from the hook.

It will be noted that the front section 2 will revolve at relatively high speed while being pro-` pelled forward on the line when the iish strikes, due to one or rall of the following reasons, namely: (l) The sudden stoppage of the rear section thus creating a forward thrust of the front section somewhat akin to the eiect of a brake; (2) the rotary movement of the iront section acting like a screw to pull itself forward due to the action of water against the blades and (3) the shaking of the lure by the fish in an eiort to get free as it strikes, which will throw the front section up the line thus reducing the weight of the lure at the iishs mouth and preventing the iish from shaking the lure loose and (4) the revolving and wobbling action of the rear section creates a directional change of the entire lure both from side to side and up and down. This directional change, resulting from the ability of the rear section to swing oli the entire lure's common axis, causes a rudder-like guidance of the lure in simulation of the true action of a live minnow and correspondingly attracts the attention of the fish.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the stabilizing action of the rear section and hooks minimizes the danger of the lure rolling out of the shs mouth, assuring a more positive catch on the iish that strikes.

Having thus described my invention, what I lclaim is:

An artificial bait or lure comprising iront and rear longitudinal bored body sections, a flexible wire rigging providing a common axis for the lure, said rigging including a front wire in the bore of said front section and a rear wire in the bore of said rear body section, a barrel swivel connecting said wires swivelably together for independent relative rotation of said sections, the relative diameters of said barrel swivel and the bores of said sections being such that a considerable area of said barrel will be received and have, a bearing iit within the opposite ends of the bores of said front and rear sections wherev by said rear section is free to wobble and move inan up and down direction and serve to guide the directional movement of the entire lure in a sinuous manner, means on said rear section for tendingl to prevent rotation of the rear section relatively to the front section, said front section being forwardly and longitudinally movable over said front Wire throughout the length of the latter and away from said rear section under the impact of a strike, and said swivel barrel preventing said rear section from moving substantially forward over said rear wire and toward said front section and a wire connecting the end of the front wire to a shing line.

ROY O. RHODES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 661,869 Henkem'us Nov. 13, 1900 1,299,703 Gray Apr. 8, 1919 1,467,116 Reekers Sept. 4, 1923 1,474,823 Hines Nov. 20, 1923 

